Scores of people from the tribal (Janjati/Vanvasi) community gathered in a de-listing rally held in Tripura capital’s Agartala on December 26. The gathering was part of the ongoing protest campaign being organised by the Janjati community across Bharat with a demand for a nationwide delisting exercise to identify those who have converted and embraced religion other than those that originated in Bharat.
According to the reports, thousands of people from the Janjati community carried out a foot march in Agartala and later assembled in Swami Vivekananda Stadium with a demand to amend Article 342 of the constitution to pave the way for exclusion of those who chose to leave their customs, traditions, and religion from the reservation benefits reserved exclusively for the Janjati community.
The gathering, organised under the banner of Janjati Suraksha Manch (JSM) witnessed an impressive turnout where demands pertaining to a pan-Bharat delisting exercise were raised. Addressing the gathering, Vikram Bahadur Jamatiya asserted that the Janjati community has been running pillar to post for justice since before independence and is still fighting for its right.
“Our demand is clear that those who embrace other religions should be barred from availing of the benefits reserved for the Janjati community. The matter was also raised by great likes Baba Kartik Oraon before the joint parliamentary committee, who asserted that those who have left the beliefs of the community should be removed from the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) and subsequently deprived of reservation benefits”, added Jamatiya.
Another leader of the JSM, Prakash Uikey, while addressing the crowd, said that the pioneers of our constitution had provided reservation and other benefits to more than 700 Janjati communities residing in Bharat, though a lion share of the benefits provided are being availed of by those who have converted to and embraced any other religion.
Further, Uikey, while sending a strong message to the government said, that If the government opts not to take any concrete step in this direction, then the community would be forced to organise a protest outside the parliament house in New Delhi.
Long held demand of the tribal community
It is to be noted that the demand for a Pan-Bharat delisting exercise is a long-held demand of the community, which resides mostly in the remote region of Bharat. The community’s leaders have time and again also echoed their support for such an exercise across States which can help identify those who have left the belief system and worship methods of the Janjatis and are still availing of benefits given exclusively to the community.
The first significant step in the direction of a Pan Bharat delisting exercise was taken by Baba Karthik Oraon, who had submitted a memorandum signed by a total of 348 parliamentarians to the then prime minister Indira Gandhi in the year 1970, though despite the assurance given by the then prime minister, such an exercise was never executed.
Nevertheless, in recent few years, it’s been witnessed that the community has been hitting the streets across Bharat against the growing menace of conversion in the tribal-dominated regions, demanding a nationwide de-listing exercise.
The recent campaign for de-listing has been prominently led by the JSM, under whose banner a total of 231 rallies in support of de-listing have already been held across separate states including the North Eastern states where a significant population of the community has been converted to Christianity under the influence of mission groups and individuals.
Founded in 2006 in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur, the Janjati Suraksha Manch (JSM) is a body dedicated to fight against illegal conversion alongside spreading awareness among the Janjati community for a nationwide delisting exercise to safeguard the rights exclusively provided to the community.
